TRP: Abel, Azriel, and Ba'ob (Jail-time)
Izzy: The port town by the Sanctuary of Eldath, some time after the B Team returns from the quarry outside Alabaster. Around midday. The streets are relatively busy. Azriel was in dire need of money, because he was in dire need of no longer sleeping in the forest. It was, frankly, an insult to his abilities as a musician to stand in the street and play for whatever paltry offerings passers-by saw fit to toss into his viol case, but it was all he had available to him. He'd picked a few pockets here and there, but he couldn't do too much of that or people would start piecing things together -- or they would just assume it was him because of the horns and all. So he set off for town and set himself up on a street corner, making his face gentle and pleasant to hide his disgruntlement. Ba'ob and his wolf had been following him, he knew, and he wasn't sure if they'd lost interest or he'd just lost track of them. He put it out of his mind and focused on playing, attracting a small shifting crowd of five or six humans, letting sparks fly off his bow to try to squeeze all he could out of them with a good show. Muse: Ba'ob's purple teifling friend liked to go into town. One of those 'civilized' people things. Usually Ba'ob preferred to stay out in the woods, away from all those people. But today, he was feeling restless. So when Azriel started to head out, Ba'ob wordlessly grabbed his weapons and started following. Upon hitting town, he promptly split, sulking around some alleyways for a bit. Smashed in a window, the wolf terrified the family inside, while Ba'ob helped himself to the contents of the pantry. Azriel'd probably appreciate this kinda food more than the stuff Ba'ob brought him in the forest. Ba'ob started wandering again, listening for the sounds of the viol to lead him to his friend. It didn't take him long to find Azriel. Upon spotting him, he walked right up to him, brushing by any of the people who'd stopped to watch, and dropped a hunk of cheese and a half-eaten loaf of bread into Azriel's case. "Hey," he greeted, giving a toothy grin. The wolf, quietly following along, settled down beside the case and kept a watchful eye on the crowd. Izzy: He'd had his eyes closed to distract himself from the circumstances under which he was playing -- just focus on the music itself -- but opened them abruptly when he heard a commotion, ready to charge the music with real magic and defend himself. He already had a guess as to the cause, however, and turned out to be completely right. "Ah." He glanced from Ba'ob to the wolf to the crowd, who were backing away. "Perfectly harmless, friends, not to worry," he said, then remembered that Ba'ob hadn't liked being called harmless, before. He shifted smoothly into the song he'd played for Ba'ob the night they'd met -- the one about the moon -- and smiled at Ba'ob as he went on. "I mean to say, they only bite when there's danger. Quite peaceful." This was a complete lie, of course, and he was positive that wherever Ba'ob had gotten the bread and cheese from, he hadn't paid for it. Still, it was better than the raw dead animals. Ba'ob was sweet, really, in between being terrifying. The crowd didn't know this, however, and seemed uneasy and ready to disperse. He kept his smile in place, bleeding magic back into the viol, sending little blue flames up the strings and along his bow. A few of them were intrigued enough to stick around, at least, though they weren't tossing him any silvers. Like Jasper, Azriel thought, Ba'ob was probably going to get him killed or stuck in destitution for the rest of his life, but they both meant well enough that it was difficult to be angry at them. The wolf was even kind of starting to grow on him. Muse: Only bite when there was danger? Feh. Well, when Ba'ob was the danger. But hey, Azriel hadn't said anything to Ba'ob. Been to busy talking to everyone else. "Hey," he repeated again, louder and more insistent. This time, he reached out and poked Azriel in the chest for emphasis. For now he ignored the crowd, the wolf was keeping her eye out for any signs of trouble. Izzy: "Ba'ob," Azriel said in a soft but firm reproachful tone that had never worked on Jasper or Amethyst, so he didn't know why he was even trying it. "It's not polite to poke people." Then he realized he hadn't properly responded to the wolfboy's greeting, before, which also wasn't polite. He wouldn't have thought that would matter to Ba'ob. "But hello, yes, and thank you for the bread." He glanced back to the crowd, who had definitely reacted to Ba'ob jabbing him in the chest and getting louder, and offered another winning smile. They weren't coming closer again. Mask. Maybe he could teach Ba'ob and the wolf how to busk. The three of them certainly had the appearance of some sort of sideshow attraction. Muse: Talky friend had talked to him. Content, for now, Ba'ob plopped on the ground next to the wolf and started scratching her ears. Hey. Weren't those people supposed to be paying Azriel? Ba'ob was fairly certain that's how it worked. "Hey!" he yelled at the crowd. "Pay up!" while pointing at Azriel's open viol case. Izzy: The crowd backed up further, a few of them jumping and outright fleeing down the street. Azriel quickly knelt next to Ba'ob, letting his magic drop out of the viol as he stopped playing to hiss, "You're scaring them off. Be quiet." He meant well, Azriel repeated to himself. It had taken an hour just to get this much of a crowd and Ba'ob had frightened them away in ten seconds. Of course. Muse: "Maybe you're not scary enough," Ba'ob muttered, crossing his arms. He'd just been trying to help and nobody'd listened to him. He'd make it up to Azriel. He eyed the crowd, picking out a mark. Near the back there was a human. Fat, out of shape, but, looked like he had money, and pretty close to bolting. Coward. Ba'ob reached over and muttered a few words to the wolf, too quiet for anyone to hear. She got up, and began circling around the back of the crowd. Ba'ob got up, and started circling the other way. No weapons, not yet, just take it niiiiice and slow. Izzy: "I'm not supposed to be scary," Azriel muttered, standing back up to get back to playing, closing his eyes again and concentrating. Maybe he'd lose this bunch, but he'd attract another crowd through sheer force of will. Maybe he'd have to learn some compulsion spell to get people to just give them their money. Might be useful on Ba'ob, too, though he didn't like the idea of magically compelling someone he considered a friend. Then someone screamed, and he dragged his bow roughly across the strings one final time, infusing it with intent to cast Sleep on whoever he needed to in order to get away. But, naturally, when he opened his eyes, it was too late for that. People were scattering. One man, who had already backed well away, had realized that Ba'ob and the wolf were closing in on him from either side, and was frozen in fear. He could ... always put Ba'ob and the wolf to sleep. Win the crowd back over by 'saving' them. Ah, he really didn't think Ba'ob would appreciate it when he woke up, though, and the idea did leave a bad taste in Azriel's mouth. Instead he swore to himself quietly and lashed the spell out at those who were making a run for it, hoping to keep the situation contained -- but he hadn't put enough time and energy into the spell, and wasn't able to get all of them. A few got away from him, and they would no doubt be alerting the town guard. Azriel bent to slam his viol case closed and called, "Ba'ob, it's time to go." Muse: Azriel was yelling. Not important. Their prey had froze and with a gesture, the wolf surged forwards and knocked the man down. Ignoring the people fleeing, he bent down and began riffling through the man's pockets. Picked a good one, they felt real full. Ba'ob stopped a moment, grinning at the gibbering fear the man was showing at the wolf growling in his ear. Then he turned and tossed the purse to Azriel. "Payment!" Izzy: "Ba'ob, that's stealing," Azriel said, exasperated, but automatically caught the coin pouch anyway. Well, everything had gone south now. No reason to not take advantage of the situation. Oh, and he would never be able to show his very distinctive face in town again, which was just fantastic, so he might as well get everything he could while he was here. He'd explain to Ba'ob that stealing in broad daylight was usually a bad idea later. He darted over to one of the people he'd incapacitated and started hurriedly going through her pockets, swiping her rings, and waved to one of the other two. "Get their wallets as well, then, but do it fast, all right?" Muse: Ba'ob nodded, going over to rifle through the other people's pockets. He guessed it was a pretty good haul? Azriel'd know better than he did. "Got it," he said, tucking the last of the valuables in his pockets. "Drinks?" he asked hopefully. Izzy: Azriel gave him a dumbfounded look, so completely flabbergasted that even though he was dreadfully aware of the urgency of their situation, he actually stopped looting the unconscious body. "Ba'ob, we have to leave. Forever." Well, that was being a bit dramatic, maybe. "The town guard will be coming for us, and they'll be looking for a purple tiefling with a broken horn and a --" he gestured to all of Ba'ob -- "a feral elf with a wolf. We can't --." He was in the process of saying we can't stay for drinks when he spotted movement over Ba'ob's shoulder. It was too late. The guard were already here, had already seen them. Several ideas flashed through his head: casting Sleep again, trying to get them all? Darkness, to cover their escape? giving both Ba'ob and the wolf enhanced abilities and hoping they could fight off the half-dozen guards by themselves? just fucking bolting and leaving Ba'ob to deal with this himself, keeping the guards busy? (No, that was no good, even if it gave him the best chance of survival.) Azriel realized he was locked up in indecision. The wolf must have heard their heavily-armored footstep, and had turned, her hackles rising, to growl an alert. In a second Ba'ob would be pulling out his bow, and people would start dying, and Azriel was too terrified to move. Muse: Town guard. Those two words cut right down to Ba'ob's core. He couldn't get caught by guards. He couldn't. Wolf was growling. Ba'ob whirled around. Too late. Too late. Ba'ob grabbed for his bow, frantic nerves causing him to fumble, stumbling backwards. A high, nervous whine was tearing out of his throat. Couldn't get caught, couldn't get caught. The arrow flew over the guard's heads and clattered uselessly to the street somewhere behind them. This wasn't happening. Whirling around, Ba'ob grabbed Azriel's arm. "Gotta go," he managed to get out, dragging the teifling as fast as he was able down the street. The wolf could sense Ba'ob's distress. Snarling, she lunged for a guard, snapping and biting and trying to sink her teeth into him. Izzy: The wolf was dealing with this better than either of them. Azriel hadn't seen Ba'ob mishandle his bow, not even when confronted by spirits -- he hadn't seemed bothered by them at all, or by bandits, or anything else. Still, he grabbed at Azriel's arm and tried to drag him to safety, which Azriel was only distantly aware of at all, completely unable to help. Dead weight. The thought occurred to him, however, that when they got caught -- and they would get caught -- he and Ba'ob would be tossed in jail, because they were people, loosely. The wolf was not a person. One didn't throw a wild animal into jail. Two of the guards were busy contending with her while the others advanced on Azriel and Ba'ob -- one loosing a crossbow bolt that flew past them, another making a gesture with her hands. There was a faint tingle of passing magic and Ba'ob froze up as well, and Azriel finally managed to look back at him, jerkily, and see his eyes wide with panic. He couldn't move. Literally couldn't. And the wolf was pinned, snarling, with a spear pointed at her neck. Azriel darted away -- not away, but towards the wolf, throwing all of his weight behind shoving the spear and stumbling from the force. "Don't hurt her," he stammered. "Please -- she's -- don't kill her." He needed to use some spell but he couldn't think of one, didn't have time for a song or a clever lie. Still, the guards hesitated, and it was enough for the wolf to right herself and make for the nearest treeline. One of them broke off to give chase, but Azriel was confident that once she was in the forest, he wouldn't have a chance. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the others subduing Ba'ob as he was being jerked to his feet, his hands tied behind his back. It all became rather distant again, but at least Azriel had done one thing right. Muse: As soon as he was able to break free of the spell, Ba'ob began kicking and snarling, snapping at whatever he could. All it got him was some bruises, probably a concussion too. Wolf was gone- and Azriel was here. As soon as they were thrown in the cell, Ba'ob skittered off to the furthest corner and curled into a ball, shaking. At least he still had the ring. At least he was still his own person. Izzy: Azriel went peacefully, which allowed him to avoid injury. The same couldn't be said for Ba'ob, once the spell wore off, and he wanted to try to calm him down and keep him from getting hurt, but couldn't quite remove himself from the area slightly displaced from his body. His viol was taken away, and its case, but he and Ba'ob were at least shoved into the same cell. He expected Ba'ob to continue to struggle, to fight with the bars, but instead he retreated to a corner and curled into himself. Azriel dropped to the floor and found himself staring into space for some time -- he wasn't sure how long, really -- before he returned to himself abruptly. It was cold in here. He'd only just noticed. Maybe that was why Ba'ob was shaking -- maybe it was a good excuse for why he was. (He'd never been in jail. He'd always talked his way out of it. Abel or Gabriel had always come for him. Jasper had fought them off. He'd managed to get away. His parents had paid people off. He'd never been locked up, never been powerless to stop it, never.) He looked at Ba'ob again. It clearly wasn't the chill of the stone cell -- Ba'ob was not dealing with this. So, Azriel realized, he had to. Like Abel would. He scooted closer to the wolfboy, not sure if he might still lash out if Azriel got too close, and slid his hand across the floor towards him, humming that song again softly, making a tiny illusory moon and stars spin slowly in the palm of his hand. Maybe it would be enough to distract him from his distress. Muse: Ba'ob was trapped. Steel bars between him and freedom. Between him and escape. The woods were free. The woods were safe. In the woods nothing was out to hurt him for the sake of hurting him. Things died, that was part of nature. But what wasn't part of nature was cruel people with sharp boots and vicious fists. Wasn't part of nature to have a white-hot band around your arm that you couldn't get off. Wasn't part of nature to be so afraid of what was coming next. He registered movement before sound, flinching and snarling before recognizing it was just Azriel. Just his friend. Humming, that song he'd liked. The snarl died almost as quickly at it had come, but he remained watchful. The illusion got a brief glance- but then he looked up and at Azriel's face. Not sure how to react to this. He'd been crying. It showed. November 3, 2018 Izzy: at 12:06 AM It seemed to calm him a bit. Not entirely, but that was only fair. Azriel's humming faltered, and the little moon with it, but he cleared his throat and tried to keep going. Since Ba'ob had only snarled for a moment, he moved a little closer. He wasn't -- entirely a fan of the way Ba'ob tended to grab and hug him whenever he felt like it, but he didn't mind it that much either, anymore. And if it would make Ba'ob feel better, luring him into it seemed like the appropriate thing to do. Muse: at 12:18 AM Azriel continued not to say anything. And for once, Ba'ob was keenly missing them. He shook a little with repressed laughter- Bry would have something to say about Ba'ob missing words. And then he felt Azriel's hand bump against him, and something snapped. He lunged out, away and whirled around snarling once more. One hand had already been pawing at the cuff on one wrist. The rags usually covering it had come partially undone. Mostly due to the way Ba'ob was now clawing at his arm in an attempt to get it off. Not that it worked. It never worked. Izzy: at 12:33 AM Azriel scrambled away, the gentle humming turning to a sudden, "Oh, fuck," as Ba'ob snapped. But, as he stumbled to his feet as though there were anywhere he could go (had his rebuke, didn't really want to set Ba'ob on fire, maybe he could hum out a vicious enough tune to fend him off, but it might just make him angry) -- he realized Ba'ob had been moving away from him. Like he'd felt threatened. And he was scratching at himself, at his own arm. Azriel hadn't paid it much attention, before, but had vaguely registered the bandages wrapped around that arm. Now that they were loose, he could see the metal cuff underneath them. Ba'ob wasn't much of one for material possessions, clearly, and the bracelet -- well, it seemed to be the cause of his distress, really. A dog clawing at a chain around its neck. He didn't know what to make of this, but slowly, he moved away from the wall he'd backed himself up against, showing Ba'ob his palms and singing quietly, now, in a halting and unsure voice -- no magic in this, only a lullaby someone had sung to him when he was too young to remember their face. It was in Infernal, which he didn't expect Ba'ob would know, but he thought it sounded soothing, either way. The words weren't terribly important, anyway; a sweet meandering nonsense story about a puppy that was friends with a canary. Muse: at 12:49 AM The singing jolted Ba'ob. A splash of cold water on his raging panic. Bry?- No not Bryseis. Azriel. Azriel was singing him a lullaby. The clawing at his arm slowed, and he stared. He didn't recognize the song, but the words- he missed Bry. A shudder wracked his frame. A shaky sob forced its way out of his mouth. Azriel couldn't touch the ring. Couldn't. He kept trying to come close- but he couldn't touch the ring. "St- stay back," Ba'ob said. Words, not growling. Hollowed out by fear and desperation. Bry'd be proud. Ba'ob didn't retreat however, remaining where he was, hugging his cuffed arm and watching Azriel carefully. Izzy: at 1:01 AM "Okay." Azriel stopped moving, keeping his voice soft. He wasn't sure if he should keep singing -- it had helped, but he was also kind of starting to forget the words the further he got into it. The right thing to do, he still thought, would be to hug Ba'ob, but he couldn't exactly do that from this far away. Words didn't usually have much effect on him anyway -- no amount of please don't do that and Ba'ob, no and that isn't polite -- but on the other hand, he had said a couple quite clearly, there. Maybe when he was stressed, he actually got more coherent. Azriel tried to think of anything anyone had ever said to him to make him feel calmer, or safer, and came up blank. "Would you ... like me to keep singing?" he tried. "And I'll sit down, and you can sit down, and if you want to come closer, later, you can. Okay?" Would that ... work? He didn't usually just say things straightforwardly. "I just want you to -- not scratch yourself." Muse: at 1:09 AM Ba'ob glanced down. Huh. He was bleeding. "Hadn't realized," he mumbled. Maybe he should let go- even at the thought he could feel his hand tighten around the cuff. No. Not yet. Sit down. Listen to Azriel sing. Maybe edge closer if and when he felt like it. "Okay," he agreed quietly, shuffling so his back was up against the wall and sinking down to the ground. "Can- you keep singing like that? With the- with the words." That sounded like something Bry'd make him try again with. "Words," he repeated again, this time in Infernal. Hopefully that was enough. Izzy: at 1:20 AM Azriel was taken aback by the Infernal, even if it was only a word. He wanted to ask how and why Ba'ob knew any Infernal, and how much he knew -- tried to remember if he'd off-handedly said anything to Abel in their language around Ba'ob, anything important, didn't think he had -- but it really wasn't relevant right now. "Of course." He sat down where he was, crossing his legs. Where had he been? Oh, it didn't matter. He cleared his throat and started the song over, eyeing his friend's wrist but trying to not be too obvious about it. He hadn't had the time to think of Ba'ob as anything but some strange elf who'd been left in a forest to be raised by wolves. Hadn't considered that bad things happened to wild animals all the time, and bad things must have happened to him. Someone had put that cuff on him, and he'd clawed himself bloody trying to get it off. Azriel kept his voice sweet and soft and considered the things that he and Abel and Jasper could make happen to that person. He didn't have the stomach for it, of course. But he could certainly enable his siblings. November 4, 2018 Muse: at 11:50 AM Ba'ob couldn't really relax. But the singing gave him something to focus on than steel bars and stone walls. It took a while before he started slowly inching towards Azriel, still clutching his wrist. Azriel just kept singing. Soft, soothing- safe? Ba'ob hesitated when the space between them was down to inches. Couldn't risk Azriel taking the ring. Couldn't. But he wanted to hug him so bad. So he suddenly dove across the remaining space, shoving his cuffed wrist behind Azriel's back and clutching him with his other arm. Face buried in Azriel's shoulder, almost vibrating with tension. Waiting to see how his friend would react. Izzy: at 3:13 PM Azriel kept singing when he ran out of words -- just faltered for a moment and started the song again. Kept singing as his throat grew sore and his voice started to become hoarse. He wasn't going to stop as long as Ba'ob kept edging closer. And Ba'ob was edging closer, and he didn't dare move in case all of the progress was lost in a single twitch. For a moment he thought he must have shifted without realizing it when Ba'ob jolted into motion, but then the wolfboy collided with him, nearly knocking him over and clinging to him. Azriel automatically returned the hug, wheezing a little from the force, his song cut off. Ba'ob was shaking and he did his best to hold him steady, petting his back. "There, there. We'll be all right." He wasn't sure of that, but luckily, Azriel was very good at lying. Muse: at 3:27 PM Azriel's hands were on Ba'ob's back- good place, far from the ring. He let out a wheeze and relaxed slightly. But just. Azriel was making promises- promises Ba'ob didn't see how he'd be able to keep. But the wolf had gotten away. She'd find Jasper, Abel. They wouldn't be here forever. Not unless the others got caught too. "How long?" he asked quietly. Needed more words. "We- here. Before." He growled a little, frustrated with the way the Common words were clogging up his throat. "Jasper. Abel. How long before?" Izzy: at 4:16 PM Azriel hesitated. He could do vague comforting platitudes all day. But when it came to specifics -- well, he was hoping Abel would notice they were gone soon, but he hadn't exactly announced his departure and he was sure Ba'ob hadn't either. It might be nightfall before anyone realized they hadn't returned. Or, perhaps more reasonably, the next morning. There had been that one time he'd been out all night, and no one had been worried about him then. He just hadn't been in danger then (for the most part), so he hadn't considered it. Then Abel would have to work out that they were in jail, although that one frankly shouldn't be so difficult, and ... Well, there was really no reason to worry Ba'ob over the details. "I don't know," he admitted. "But they will come -- they always do. We look out for each other. And I'll sing as long as you want until then." November 6, 2018 Lina: at 8:47 PM Footsteps approached from up the corridor. Slow and careful, boots crunching over the grit of the stone floor. They paused every few paces, louder and closer each time they picked up again. Abel stepped into view outside Ba'ob and Azriel's cell. He stared down at them, expressionless, green eyes glinting in the torchlight. Izzy: at 8:51 PM "Oh, thank fucking Mask," Azriel blurted, his audible relief probably giving away how little faith he'd had in Jasper or Abel showing up any time soon. Muse: at 8:53 PM Ba'ob flinched at the sudden outburst, whipping around to see what had caused Azriel's outburst. It was the other teifling. Abel. He was up in a flash, charging over to jerk on the door. Still locked. "Out?" he whined, staring up at Abel. Lina: at 8:56 PM Abel continued to stare for a while, taking in Ba'ob's frantic pawing at the door with mild fascination. He looked back to his brother, and stared even longer. Finally, in a voice betraying some decently-contained rage, he said, "Do you know. How much. They are demanding for bail?" Izzy: at 8:59 PM "Abel, please, just kill everyone and get us out of here. We're already fugitives. What's a little more crime?" Muse: at 9:01 PM "Out!" Ba'ob repeated, more insistently, jerking on the bars. "I'll help!" Lina: at 9:06 PM Abel continued on like neither of them had spoken. "Three. Hundred. Gold pieces. I don't have three hundred gold pieces, Azriel," he spat. "More crime? What's a little more crime? I don't know, why don't we sit here and add it up? Oh, no." He patted his pockets. "I've forgotten my abacus. I suppose we'll have to do it in our heads. You and I may be fugitives from some cities, Azriel, but my preference is to hang on to one or two places on this godforsaken earth where I can actually show up and pay for a decent meal and a bed without having headhunters after me. Do you understand?" Izzy: at 9:09 PM Azriel rolled his eyes. "I said kill everyone. There won't be any witnesses. Really, Abel, you're out of practice. Look, Ba'ob and I have already been seen, so we're a lost cause, but I promise we weren't purposefully trying to keep you from a hot meal in a disgusting tavern. Are you just going to leave us here to die, then?" Muse: at 9:11 PM Ba'ob turned around to stare at Azriel briefly, horrified. And then turned back and attempted to grab at Abel through the bars (with his non-cuffed arm). "Ooooooouuuuuut," he whined, pleadingly, desperately. "Don't wanna stay here. Want out." Lina: at 9:27 PM Abel swiped his hand out of Ba'ob's grasping range. "No witnesses? Oh, and what a mystery that will be for the local magistrate to solve. All the guards murdered, one cell busted open and empty, and two prisoners missing. Funny, it's the last two whose names were added to the register. How the fuck are we ever going to figure this one out?" He slammed a hand against the bars, making Ba'ob let go and flinch backwards, growling. "Were you or were you not raised by Jade Melaine, and do you not possess enough common fucking sense to avoid landing yourself in jail over the most basic of cons?" Izzy: at 9:35 PM Azriel shot up. "And you don't know how to fucking burn a register, or open other cells to cover your tracks? Don't drag our mother into this like you're her prize pupil. Also --" he covered the short distance to the bars and jabbed a finger at his brother through them -- "fuck you, Abel, I wasn't pulling a con, I was just trying to make a little money playing music. I'm not an idiot. There aren't any other purple tieflings with broken horns in this town -- I know how to keep my head down." He realized, just before he said more, that he was a breath away from selling Ba'ob out, and stopped short. Actually -- Abel wasn't an idiot, either. He probably already had. Muse: at 9:42 PM Too many words. Not enough action. Ba'ob rubbed at his wrist glancing back and forth between the two arguing brothers. They wanted to get loud and shout? Fine. Ba'ob could do that too. He threw his head back and howled. "OOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUT!" Outside, they could hear an actual wolf joining in Ba'ob's howl. Lina: at 9:45 PM Abel let go of the bars, whirled around, and disappeared up the corridor. Muse: at 9:48 PM This wasn't out. "HEY!" Ba'ob yelled after Abel's retreating back, lunging forwards and vainly attempting to grab him. "Want out! Out out out out!" he yelled, rattling the bars. Panic was settling in again. They'd come so close. And he was leaving. Izzy: at 9:50 PM Azriel half-tried to put a hand on Ba'ob's shoulder to placate him, but was slightly more occupied with yelling over him, "What the fuck, Abel?" Lina: at 10:00 PM A few minutes later Abel returned, smelling like the air after a spring storm, his hands smoking. He'd brought a ring of keys with him. He tried a few out until he found the one that opened the lock on their cell. He swung the door open, dropped the keys on the ground, and strode off up the corridor again. Muse: at 10:06 PM As soon as the door swung open, a ball of dirt, leaves, and wolfboy bolted out and pushed past him on the way towards the door. He was out. Finally. He charged through the entry room, smelling of smoke and burnt meat, and outside. Where the wolf was sitting and waiting. Collapsing to his knees, he grabbed ahold of her and buried his face in her fur. He was out. Izzy: at 10:12 PM Azriel started to chase after Ba'ob, but now that they were out, he decided he'd had enough -- just for the moment -- of trying to keep him on a leash. He stopped by the table his viol and its case and Bao'b weapons had been left on, to collect them, then hurried to keep pace with Abel. "Listen," he said quietly, covering his mouth and nose with a hand to block out the smell of cooked meat. "Thank you for coming for us. Ba'ob would have lost his mind in there. How someone so clearly agonized by being in a cell hasn't gotten better at avoiding them is beyond me." November 7, 2018 Lina: at 2:38 PM Abel came to a stop outside the jail, eyeing the boy and his wolf rolling happily on the ground. Frankly, the wolf seemed to have more common sense. It hadn't gotten itself arrested, for one thing, and it had known where to go for help. "And what exactly happened, that led the two of you here?" he asked Azriel. Izzy: at 3:22 PM "Well." Azriel tried to think of how to put this diplomatically. "As I, ah, angrily shouted at you before" (acknowledgement was close to apology, right?) "I was playing on the street for tips like some sort of common bard, and -- well, you know, Ba'ob gets oddly quite protective of me, and he thought that I wasn't being paid enough, I suppose, so." There was really no way he could spin this that made Ba'ob sound reasonable, was there? Not without lying outright, claiming that someone else had started it and Ba'ob had rightfully defended him. Abel would probably see through it anyway, and in the next town Ba'ob would just do the same thing. Azriel couldn't cover for him forever. He sighed. "So he and the wolf attacked a man and stole his wallet, and I wasn't able to keep all of the witnesses contained, so I set about stealing whatever else I could in preparation to leave town." He shook his viol case, making it jingle with pilfered goods. "The silver lining here is that we aren't broke anymore." Muse: at 3:26 PM Ba'ob looked up when he heard his name. Azriel was telling the story. "Helped," he said. Although now he couldn't be proud of it. His arm still stung from the gouges he'd carved into his own flesh. "Food too," he reminded Azriel. People and their obsession with money. Lina: at 3:31 PM Abel snatched at the viol case, but Azriel wouldn't let it go. That was fine. Abel dragged both the case and his brother close, pulling the case up to his chest and lifting Azriel a couple inches off the ground with it. Abel stared him dead in the eye. "I charge one fifty for a jailbreak. Pay up now, or it's interest added." Izzy: at 3:32 PM Azriel glared at him. "Do I get a family discount," he deadpanned. Lina: at 3:34 PM "Twenty percent, but interest's calculated on the full price." Izzy: at 3:36 PM "That seems very reasonable." Azriel let go of the viol case, letting himself drop back down to the ground and dusting himself off. "I was going to share anyway, asshole." Muse: at 3:40 PM Oh good. They weren't arguing any more. Ba'ob latched onto Azriel, standing on tiptoe so he could rest his chin on Azriel's shoulder and stare at Abel. Lina: at 3:43 PM Abel cracked open the viol case. He scooped his hand through the monetary contents a couple times, transferring some of it to his pockets. He noted the peeved expression on Azriel's face as he handed the case back to him. "Service and material fees," he explained. Then he turned his attention to Ba'ob, peering over Azriel's shoulder. "Do you understand now that you were not, in fact, helping?" Muse: at 3:58 PM Ba'ob's grip tightened a little and he scowled briefly. "Tried to help," he muttered sulkily. But then they had ended up in jail hadn't they. "Didn't mean to." Lina: at 4:04 PM Abel had to take pity on him. He was young and would likely be naive no matter how he'd grown up, but add in the fact that whoever raised him had not been--how to say--civilized further complicated things. He wasn't grasping the behavioral expectations of normal society. "Do you know why it went as badly as it did, Ba'ob?" Muse: at 4:06 PM Ba'ob didn't react for a second, before slowly shaking his head. "Nobody died," he muttered. Guards showed up for murder, Ba'ob knew that. But they were just- collecting money. Some of 'em had it to spare. Lina: at 4:21 PM "Listen to me. People will get angry with you long before you've killed them. If you take their things without asking, or if you destroy their things, or if you touch them and dig in their pockets." He snarled and snapped his teeth, letting his fangs show. Hopefully, that was more the kid's language. Muse: at 8:39 PM Ba'ob flinched back, letting go of Azriel. Humanoids didn't usually growl back. Hunching over further than usual, he shuffled around to kneel in front of Abel, letting out little whimpering noises. But Abel'd want words. "Did bad," he whined. "Sorry." Lina: at 8:56 PM "Just learn from it. Alright? Azriel's good with people. When he tells you to back down, you should listen." Abel wasn't quite sure how to handle the kneeling thing, so he just did to Ba'ob what he'd do with a remorseful dog, which was to rub his head affectionately. He stopped short of rubbing his ears, though. Muse: at 9:01 PM Ba'ob twitched a little under Abel's hand. That was- not what the wolves would do. But humanoids seemed a lot less fond of licking. It- probably meant about the same? He nodded rapidly. "Listen to Azriel," he repeated. "Keep from going jail again?" Lina: at 9:02 PM "Yes. Yes, there you go. Listen to Azriel, keep from going to jail." Abel raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Azriel's very good at avoiding jail. Isn't he." Izzy: at 9:05 PM "Best in the family, isn't that right, Abel?" Azriel touched Ba'ob's shoulder and offered him a hand up, giving Abel a wide grin. Muse: at 9:15 PM Slowly Ba'ob accepted the hand, allowing himself to be pulled back up to his feet. Azriel, good at avoiding jail. Right. "Don't like jail," he said, rubbing at his wrist. Sensing some distress, the wolf stepped forwards and leaned against his leg. Lina: at 9:18 PM "I don't much fucking like it either, Ba'ob. And we all need to get the hell out of here before someone notices what we've done." Abel led the way, scanning up and down the street for witnesses. There were people out and about, but none of them were paying attention, which satisfied him. END Category:Text Roleplay: B-Team